Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumRunning While Female
Male runners may be shocked to learn how often women must endure on-the-run harassment.
Many female runners have come to just expect it.
A man will look a woman up and down as she runs past. a driver will shout a come-on, laughing with his friends as they speed away. A person on a bike or in a car will follow a woman, and she might dart down a side street to escape. Even if nothing like this happens most days, knowing that it ( or something worse) could happen, causes stress.
As the recent national dialogue surrounding Donald Trumps sexist comments and alleged sexual assaults brought to light - almost all women, runners or not, have endured unwanted sexual attention. And no matter how swift the womans pace, its impossible to outrun harassment.
https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a18848270/running-while-female/
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I used to run many years ago when I was in my 20s, and I can verify that all of these things happened to me, even though I was careful to run during daylight hours, in a safe neighborhood, where people were usually around. Its horrible. I even was harassed when walking down the same streets when I quit running in favor of walking. Even riding my bike, once, a car full of young guys followed me for about a half mile, yelling come-ons at me. Its terrifying.
Croney
(4,923 posts)If you see an old woman running (or in my case, lumbering along with an odd gait), don't try to high-five her and say "good for you!" Patronizing me is a form of harassment. I even had a young woman say, "are you okay?" LOOK, people, if I'm wearing running clothes and headphones and I'm not looking at you, leave me alone.
sheshe2
(87,490 posts)Ohiogal
(34,631 posts)sheshe2
(87,490 posts)Demovictory9
(33,757 posts)Bluepinky
(2,325 posts)It was okay in the winter and in cooler weather because I wore a jacket or loose sweatshirt. But in the summer, i was more exposed and felt more vulnerable. I took to running at night and running in more isolated areas to maintain my privacy. It probably wasnt always the safest option, but it made me feel less targeted. It didnt help that I did not have a runners angular, thin body; it was difficult to get adequate support and coverage for all my body parts. But I did enjoy running, it made me feel fit and kept my weight down.
Even now, all these years later, I totally respect any person out there running and would never dream of harassing them in any way.
akraven
(1,975 posts)But I still borrow neighbordog (she's quite large and ferocious) because of this crap.